The Mineral Springs Hornets put in another good showing Friday night in the 40-38 loss to the Mountain Pine Red Devils, but the Howard County team remains winless headed into the second half of the season and the battle for the Howard County Cup Friday night in Dierks.

The Hornet offense racked up 391 yards with 257 coming via the pass and 133 on 20 rushes. Quarterback Peyton Haddan hit 12/21 passes for 263 yards with four touchdowns and one interception while Octavion Ceaser added one completion for six yards.

Tahji Beal led the Hornet receivers with six catches for 182 yards and three TDs and also led the rushing game with 12 totes for 86 yards and two TDs. Raheem Brown also pulled in seven passes for 76 yards and a 26-yard TD. Adding to the rushing total were Cameron Lee with four carries for 25 yards and Ceaser with one carry for 21 yards.

The Red Devils tallied 327 yards of offense and five TDs, all coming from 57 rushes. Their top-four rushers picked up yardage of 122, 88, 66 and 21 yards.

Beside the scoreboard and the rushing game, the one area the Red Devils topped the Hornets was in penalty yardage. The Hornets were flagged 11 times for 80 yards while their opponent was flagged just three times for 36 yards.

Friday night’s clash with the Dierks Outlaws for the Howard County Cup will be a battle of the winless.